//------------------------------// // Small Blade: The Struggle for Trost, Part 3 // Story: Attack on Titan // by Gojizilla54 //------------------------------// They first appeared over a hundred years ago. Giant humanoid creatures with the taste for our blood. The brute strength of these aberrations was more than a human many times over. Humanity was shoved to the brink of extinction almost overnight. The survivors erected walls, Maria, Rose, and Sina, withdrawing behind them in relative safety for a hundred years. However, in the year 845, two terrifying Titans appeared, the Colossal and the Armored. They had destroyed ordinary life, along with a part of the wall. The territory within the circle of Wall Maria was abandoned. Twenty percent of the human race perished and third of the territory was lost. The location of the crisis now switched to Wall Rose. In the year 850, the Colossal appeared once again, breaching the wall bordering Trost. The Titans flooded in through the broken gate. Two hours later, the evacuation of the entire populace was complete. As a result, hardly any civilians were lost to the Titans. The same cannot be said for the countless soldiers who perished. Back at HQ, several cadets were arguing with Woermann. "Captain, please wait!" yelled a male cadet. "If the Titans were to attack here we wouldn't have enough personnel to hold them off." "Please, sir. We need you here!" begged a female cadet. "Out of my way," Woermann said in a strict voice. "My expertise is needed to help direct the reinforcements." "Behind the safety of the inner gate right," said another male cadet with short light brown hair. "Just what the hell are you implying?" Woermann asked. "This is a decision based on fundamental principals. A soldier operates on nothing else but his principals!" "But if we overcome..." said the female cadet. "THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Woermann yelled pointing his sword at the female cadet. "Consider my orders again and I'll consider it as contempt and strike you down!" Outside, Mikasa latched on to a tower and landed on the roof. She then heard more soldiers coming her direction. She turned around to see Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Indigo Zap, and Sugarcoat following her. "What are you girls doing here?" she asked. "Ian told us to follow you," Sugarcoat replied. "Why are you here?" "To help the the vanguard out," Mikasa replied. "You mean them," said Twilight pointing. Mikasa looked to see a large amount of cadets on the roof. "They must have heard the withdrawal signal," she thought. "So, why are they not climbing over the wall?" "Uh... Mikasa look over there," said Applejack pointing. Mikasa turned to the direction Applejack was pointing to. She saw that the HQ was surrounded by Titans. On the other side, HQ was surrounded by Titans on every side. In the inside, several cadets were hiding below some tables. A female cadets peeks out to see and Titan looking at them. "We're finished," she whispered. "We're doom." Three cadets were in each corner hiding, while another cadet was using a ramrod to load his musket. The building started to shake causing everyone to cover their ears in fear. "There," said the male cadet. "Come on, now," said the female cadet next to him. "Do you think that musket is going to be effective?" The male cadet smiled as he then inserts the musket in his mouth. Without any hesitation, he pulled the trigger, firing it and killing him. Blood splattered on the books behind him. Everyone near him screamed in horror at the sight. Outside, every cadet was at the roof waiting for supplies. "Hey, Jean. What are we going to do?" asked Conny. "We can do anything," said a demoralized Jean. "They finally gave us the order to withdraw. But we're out of gas so we can't go over the wall. I can't believe this is how it's going to end. It's because of those damned cowards." "Do you mean the senior officers?" Conny asked. "Where are they?! Did they all die?" "If they all lost their will to fight, I can understand why," Jean replied. "They abandoned their duty to supply use with gas, barricading themselves inside. And of course, Titans have swarmed the place, which means we can't get gas ourselves." "So we have to take the chance!" Conny shouted. "We've got to take on those Titans! It amounts the same things if we sit here around. We'll just waste what little we've got if we try to run. Without our mobility we're completely done for!" "You're using your head for once, Conny," complimented Jean. "But do you think we have the capacity to pull this off? The veterans in the Vanguard force have been all killed. With a group of rookies, who has the knowledge or experience to lead the attack?" Jean looked at the many cadets, who were standing there and curled up. "I mean, let's assume half of our force even survives the initial assault," said Jean. "Then what? The supply is probably crawling with Titans. I don't see us accomplishing much there." "I guess it is hopeless," Conny agreed. Jean could only let out a sigh and grabbed his head. "God, what a dull life this turned out to be," said Jean. "I never ever got the chance to her how I feel about her." "Come on, guys, we can do it!" encouraged Sasha to a group of cadets. "Stand up everyone. If we all work together we can make this happen. I'll take the lead." The cadets didn't reply. They only had the look of horror in their faces. Sasha looked at Armin, who was sitting against a wall. "Armin!" Sasha called. "Let's all go..." Armin didn't reply, he had no emotion in his face, still remembering the recent event fresh in his mind. Besides Armin and Sasha, Bertholdt, Reiner, Annie, and Marco were in a group standing. "Reiner, do we move out?" Annie asked. "No yet. We have to let them gather up first," Reiner replied. "It's no use," said Marco. Bertholdt and Reiner looked at Marco, who was next to them. "No matter how I think of it, there's no way we can get out of this town alive," said Marco looking up in the sky. "It's as if we must acknowledge the end of our lives. But for what reason are we dying for?" Behind Marco, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie, Pinkie Pie was talking to her group. "Come on girls, can't we just have a bit of fun?" she asked. "Where is the fun?" asked Starlight Glimmer. "We can play I Spy," suggested Pinkie Pie. "Okay, I spy with my little eyes, death," said Sunny Flare. Pinkie looked around to find what Sunny Flare wanted. "This is hard, where is it?" she asked. "In front of you," said Sunny Flare. "My turn!" she shouted. "I spy with my little eyes, something on top of walls." "This isn't a time to play games Pinkie!" shouted Sunny Flare. "Aw, you're no fun," said Pinkie Pie. "Hey, Sunset Shimmer do you want to play?" Sunset Shimmer could only look at Pinkie and looked back. Fluttershy was sitting next to Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, Lemon Zest, and Sour Sweet. "We have little gas left, death on every corner, and no help," whimpered Fluttershy. "Can't believe this is our first battle and it goes to shit," said Lemon Zest. "You said it," said Sour Sweet. "I wonder where are the rest of the girls?" asked Rarity. As Rarity said that, Mikasa, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Indigo Zap, and Sugarcoat swung in and arrived at the group. "Mikasa, Rainbow, Indigo, Applejack, Twilight, Sugarcoat! Weren't all of you in the rear guard?" asked a male cadet "Girls!" called Starlight Glimmer. All of them deviated from Mikasa and met up with the rest. "What are you girls here?" asked Twilight Sparkle. "Did you all hear the withdraw signal?" "We did, but one problem," said Sunny Flare. "We have little gas." "Didn't you all get resupplied?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Titans heave surrounded the HQ and everyone inside is trapped," said Sunset Shimmer. As the girls continued talking, Mikasa ran towards Annie. "Annie," she called. Annie looked back at Mikasa. "I know how bad this have gotten. I know I'm pushing forward my personal concerns but have you seen Eren's squad?" Mikasa asked. "Some squads made it back," Annie replied. "But I don't know about Eren's." "Armin's over there," said Reiner. Mikasa started to run towards Armin. "Armin!" called Mikasa Armin gasped at Mikasa's voice and knew in horror. "Mikasa!" he thought. "I can't do that! How am I going to tell about Eren. It's pointless that I survived. I wished I had died instead of Eren. I wish I had died with him instead." "Armin. Are you hurt," she asked. "Are you okay?" Armin didn't reply. Mikasa got up and looked around. "Where is Eren?" she asked. Rainbow Dash looked around. "What is it Rainbow?" asked Indigo Zap. "I'm just looking for Eren," she replied. Armin started to cry and looked up at Mikasa. She looked at Armin's eyes and had the look in horror and shock in her eyes. "We...," cried Armin before looking down. "The cadets of Squad 34, Thomas Wagner, Nack Tierce, Milieus Zeremski, Mina Carolina, Eren Jaeger! These brave five upheld their duties. They died valiantly on the field of battle. Everyone was in shock of Eren's death. Everyone was affected including the girls, Sasha, Jean, and especially Mikasa. "Wait... Eren's... dead?" shuttered Pinkie Pie. "I guess so," replied Rarity quietly. Pinkie's hair started to deflate into long straight pink hair and started to whimper. Rainbow Dash tried to fight back tears as it started to well in her eyes. Fluttershy started to cry at the loss of her friend. The rest could only look at Armin and Mikasa. "Why is Pinkie's hair like that now?" asked Sugarcoat. "Anytime she feels sad her hair starts to deflate," replied Starlight Glimmer. "Is there a way to fix?" asked Lemon Zest. "In this situation it might be permanent," said Rarity. "I don't think anything will work, not even a party." "Eren... is... dead," Pinkie Pie muttered. Please, no," pleaded Sasha. "His whole squad was wiped out?" asked a male cadet. "The same will will happen to us if we try to take those Titans," said another male cadet. "I'm sorry, Mikasa," Armin apologized crying. "It should have been me that died. I... I couldn't do anything. I'm useless. Armin continued to cry. Mikasa placed her hand over Armin's hand. "Armin," she called. Armin looked at Mikasa. "Calm yourself," said Mikasa. "We haven't got time for you to get emotional right now." Mikasa got up, helping Armin to get up "On your feet," said Mikasa. Mikasa started to walk away from Armin. "Marco," she called. "If we get through the Titans at headquarters, we can refuel out gear and everyone can get back over the wall. Is that correct?" "I guess so," Marco replied. "Even with you leading the attack there's just too many of them." "I can do it," said Mikasa looking back at Marco. "What?" he asked. "I'm strong," she replied lifting her sword. "I'm stronger than all of you. I'm very strong. I have the ability to slay all of the Titans that block our path! All by myself. Either you are just skilled as I am or you are just a bunch of spineless cowards. It's really too bad. All you just sit on your hands an wait here. Sit here and watch." "Wait, Mikasa. What are you saying?" asked a female cadet. "Are you going to take them all out by yourself," asked a male cadet. "There's no way," said another male cadet. "If I can't beat them, then I die," she replied. "But if I win, I live. The only way to win is to fight." "Tell me she's just joking," said Starlight Glimmer. Mikasa then turned around. "Nope, she's actually going," said Starlight Glimmer. Everyone watched as Mikasa started to swing away from them. "What's too bad is the way you try to motivate people," said Jean. "That's supposed to help us?" Jean pulled out two swords. "This is your fault, Eren!" he hissed lifting his sword. "Hey! We weren't taught to let our comrades fight alone! You all will really become cowards!" Jean started to run off and Conny followed him. "I never expected that from him," said Reiner. Armin wiped his tears. "Let's go Armin," said Rainbow Dash. Marco covered his head and sighed and started to follow Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie. "Hey, you cowards!" called Sasha. "Let's go!" Sasha jumped from the roof and started to swing. "Dammit. All right, let's do this!" yelled a male cadet. All of them screamed and jumped from the roof and started to swing across. Mikasa saw the next Titan and sliced it's nape killing it. "Hurry up! Follow Mikasa!" yelled Jean. "Avoid fighting if you can. Get to headquarters before you run out of gas!" "Whoa, Mikasa is a badass," said Conny in amazement. "How is she going so fast?" Streams of gas were pouring from the main housing from her gear like contrails. Oh no! Mikasa's using too much gas! Armin realized. "She will run out right away! It doesn't matter how skilled she is. Once we lose mobility, we're done for!" Mikasa then swung to the next Titan and sliced its nape. The Titan fell into a nearby building as it died. Mikasa turned around the corner and started to swing. "She's not her composed self!" Armin thought. "She's suppressing her emotions through physical action. At any second, she could run out of gas!" Mikasa pressed the the bottom trigger of her control grip, the hiss of the gas was non-existent and she started to fall. Mikasa fell and hit a roof and started to roll off, the force of the impact snapped the blades. "Mikasa!" shouted Armin redirecting towards Mikasa. "Armin!" called Rainbow Dash following Armin. Soon, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Indigo Zap, Sunset Shimmer, and Sunny Flare started to follow Rainbow Dash and Armin, while Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Fluttershy, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest continued following Jean. "Damn!" Jean shouted. "Jean! You lead the rest forward!" yelled Conny. "I'm going after them!" "I'll go, too!" shouted Jean. "Don't be stupid!" yelled Conny. "There are still Titans everywhere! They need your abilities!" Conny then diverged from Jean and started to follow Armin and the rest. Jean could only accept what Conny said and continued forward. On the ground, Mikasa laid on top of a market tent, that had caught her fall. She then lifted her sword into the air. "It happened," she thought. "Why this again? I lost my family again." She then got off the tent and fell on her knees and looked at the ground. "Do I remember that pain and start all over again?" she questioned. Then, footsteps were heard. A Titan then appeared around a corner and started to walk towards Mikasa. On the other side, Jean and the rest of the cadets were on a roof, near the HQ and were observing the situation. "It's no use. We can't get close at all," said Jean. Below them, the ground was littered with Titans roaming around. "Unless we don't mind dying," said Jean. Jean heard a cadet on the streets, his hooks were latched on to a side of the building. Then, his main housing didn't puff any gas out. "He's out of gas!" Jean thought. Before Jean could go down, multiple Titans swarmed Tom. "Stay back!" he cried. Then two cadets swung after Tom. "Tom! I'll save you!" yelled a male cadet. "Stop!" yelled Jean. Then, a female cadet followed. The Titan grabbed Tom, and he could only scream and squirm around in the Titan's hand. "Stop!" yelled the male cadet. Then the Titan grabbed the male cadet by the waist, the force caused his spin to break, killing him. Jean can only watch as the cadets were getting devoured. Tom cried as the Titan opened its mouth. Tom let out a scream and with a loud crunch, the Titan bit Tom's torso, his body twitched a bit and stopped as blood ran down the Titan's hand. "Why couldn't I stop them?" Jean questioned. "Why didn't I stop them?" If we stayed together, this would never have happened." A female cadet screamed as a Titan held her arms. The Titan torn off the cadet's arms by the Titan's fingers. Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, Lemon Zest, and Pinkie Pie could only cringe at the sight. Fluttershy only whimpered at the sight. "Do I have what it takes?" he questioned. Do I have it in me to be responsible?" The other cadets on the roof could only watch at the sight they were looking at. On the other side, Mikasa stows her blade in the box. "This world is cruel," she thought. But, it's also very beautiful." The Titan got closer and closer to Mikasa. "It was a good life," she thought. Mikasa close her eyes and accepted her fate. The Titan stopped and attempted to garb Mikasa. She used her broken blade and sliced the Titan's finger. The Titan used it's other hand and attempted to grab Mikasa, but she dodged it. The Titan attempted to grab Mikasa, but she would keep on dodging the attacks. On of the attack, managed to fling Mikasa into a wall. "Why?" she questioned. The Titans hand again tried to grab Mikasa, but to only make her dodge it again. "I thought I gave up," she thought. Mikasa rolled on the ground and stopped. She got back up. "Why do i keep on getting up?" she questioned. 'Why am I struggling? I mean, I've lost all reason to live." The Titan attempted to get up, but to only fall on a pile of bricks from the wall it created. "For what reason?" she questioned. "I have no reason to be alive. What is making me..." Mikasa backed up and attempted to run, but to only see another Titan coming from the opposite direction. "Fight! Fight!" "Eren," she realized. The Titans got closer to Mikasa. "Killed or be killed, the only way to win is to fight!" "I'm so sorry, Eren I'm through giving up!" she thought. Tears started to well up in Mikasa's eyes as she remembers the good times with Eren. "I'll never give up again," she thought crying. "Because if I die, I won't be able to have these memories. So I'll do whatever it takes to win! I'll do whatever it takes to live!" Mikasa let out a blood-curdling scream as the Titan in front of her attempted to grab her. Then, the Titan behind her stomped behind her, causing her to bounce. The Titan punched the Titan in the jaw. The force of the punch was hard enough to destroy it and thrust it several yards away. Blood splattered across a nearby wall. Mikasa slid on the ground and so did the Titan. "What was that," she asked. She looked up and gasped. A 15-meter Titan with a muscular build, long brown hair, green eyes, hooked nose, elongated ears, lacking lips revealing all its teeth stood in front of Mikasa. The Titan whiffed. Mikasa watched in amazement at her sight. Then, the Titan out a loud and savage roar causing Mikasa to cover her ears. The Titan started run towards the Titan and stomps on it repeatedly. Mikasa watched in awe at the sight. "That Titan... is killing... the other," she said in awe. The Titan stopped stomping on the other Titan when it was good as dead. The Titan then looked into the air. Mikasa let out a small gasp. In the air, Armin was soaring across the air. "Please be alright, Mikasa," said Armin. "I'm coming for you." The Titan's roar managed Armin looked at the ground and saw Mikasa. "There she is," said Armin. Armin then lowered down and latched on to a wall, and grabbing Mikasa off the ground. Both of them landed on top of the roof. "Mikasa! Are you okay?" asked Armin. Conny, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, Indigo Zap, and Sunny Flare landed on the same roof. "Mikasa!" called Sunset Shimmer. "Are you guys all right?" asked Conny. "Yeah," Armin replied. "Then, we better get out of there," said Conny. "Um... Conny," said Twilight Sparkle pointing. Conny looked to see a Titan with short light brown hair and the Titan coming face-to-face. "Crap! Two 15-meter Titans!" shouted Conny. "No, that one is different," assured Mikasa. Armin looked down and saw a giant skeleton of a Titan. "How?" he asked. The Titan roared at the other Titan in front of it. The other Titan roared back at the Titan back. Then, it raised both of its fists up ready. The others watched as the battle ensues. The other Titan bellowed and charged at the Titan. The Titan then throws punch on the side of the other Titan's neck, beheading it. The others on the roof watched in amazement as the head of the other Titan was careened into a bell tower. The other Titan's body fell over. The Titan then regenerated it's hand and stomps on the other Titan's nape, killing it. "It just finished it off," said Armin in amazement. "It exactly knew where the weak spot was." The Titan started to walk away. "Well, I'll be," said Applejack in amazement. "That was awesome!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "Holy shit," said Indigo Zap. "Whoa, never seen that before," said Sunset Shimmer. "That was unbelievable," said Sunny Flare. "We move to move, guys!" shouted Conny. "Before he comes our way!" "No, he has no reaction to us," assured Armin. "Armin's right, if it had a reaction to us it wouldn't fight the others," said Twilight Sparkle. "it seemed to understand the skill of hand-to-hand combat," stated Mikasa. "What is that thing?" "Just chalk it up as another Abnormal," said Conny. "There's so much we don't know. Forget about it. Let's just get out of here." "Wait a minute! Mikasa's tanks are empty!" yelled Armin. "What! Are you serious?!" Conny shouted. "What are we going to do without you?!" "There's only one thing to do," Armin replied taking out his gas cylinders. "There isn't much left in mine." "Wait, Armin we could share," said Twilight. "We can't, all of you have a little only a little left," said Armin. "But... but... okay," sighed Twilight Sparkle "Hurry and switch it with yours," said Armin. "Armin!" she yelled. "It's the only choice we have," said Armin. "It'll be a complete waster if I keep them. But... use this gas more sparingly. So you could save everyone." "I led the attack without any regard for their lives at all," she realized. "And before I realized that responsibility, I was even reckless with my own life. All because of my personal circumstances. I..." "There it works," said Armin as gas puffed from the main housing. "I also restocked your blades." "What about you Armin?" asked Sunset Shimmer. "Just leave me," replied Armin. "What?! That's crazy talk!" shouted Rainbow Dash. Armin looked at the broken blade. "If I can, I want to be avoid being eaten," said Armin. Mikasa grabbed the broken blade and threw it off the roof. "But... but why?" he asked. Then, Mikasa placed her hand over Armin's hand. "Armin!" she called. Armin looked back at Mikasa. "I will not leave you behind," assured Mikasa. Mikasa helped Armin got up and all of them looked on ahead. Mikasa then recalled her sight. "That moment... I was bewildered," she thought. "I never heard of a Titan killing another Titan. But it finally made sense to me. What I saw was the embodiment of humanity's rage."